Kin was an epic fail after only two months on the market (Source: Microsoft)

Bonus was half what it could have been

There
have been many epic failures in the tech world over the years. One of
the most recent failures came from Microsoft in the form of the Kin
mobile phones. Consumers stayed away from the Kin in droves and
Microsoft
quickly pulled the plug.

“You've got to be bold, you've
got to look forward and you've got to stay focused,” noted
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a recent interview. “Kin was
neither -- with 20-20 hindsight -- bold enough relative to where the
market's going, and it just defocused activity from Windows
Phone."

Ballmer may have piloted Microsoft to its best
year ever, but the missteps by the company cost Ballmer. Ballmer
reportedly made his yearly bonus, but the bonus
was half what it could have been.

Ballmer received a
bonus equal to his entire yearly salary amounting to $670,000. That
is certainly a massive bonus by most accounts. However, the proxy
filing by Microsoft cited the reasons for Ballmer not getting his
full bonus were "unsuccessful launch of the Kin phone, loss of
market share in the company's mobile phone business, and the need for
the company to pursue innovations to take advantage of new form
factors."

Ballmer could have received no bonus at all, so
not all was lost. The total pay that Ballmer took home for fiscal
2010 totaled $1.34 million. Reuters reports
that Ballmer has 408 million shares of Microsoft for 4.7% of the
company estimated to be worth about $10 billion.

Forbes
lists Ballmer as the 16th richest person in America.

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